Stargazing
by thecolouryes
Summary: Throughout the universe, we look to the stars as a reassurance. In the stars lies our hopes and dreams, but our friends are the ones who watch them with us.
1. Jack and Ianto

**Stargazing**

**A Doctor Who Hurt/Comfort/Friendship Fanfic**

**Summary:  
**_**Throughout the universe, we look to the stars as a reassurance. In the stars lies our hopes and dreams, but our friends are the ones who watch them with us.**_

**Rated K+ for safety in regards to language, anyway.**

**Disclaimer: All of these characters are the property of their respective shows. The stars belong to all of us in this – and every other – universe.**

**A/N: Well! I'm out of my writer's block and does it feel bloody brilliant. :D Thought of this, or something like it, after one of the things I wrote for 10 Song Shuffle. I was going to make that into a nice long one-shot by itself, but then I decided I liked the idea too much. So, this has extended from Jack and Ianto to every character (just about) in the Doctor Who universe. It technically crosses over into Torchwood and (will) cross over into the Sarah Jane Adventures, but as they are spin-offs of Doctor Who, I've listed it under Doctor Who for reference reasons.**

**Chapter titles are who's doing the stargazing in said chapter. I'm being obsessive, so (and I don't know how much it'll actually show up) I've made sure these are in what Word counts as UK English. Just so any fellow Americans don't wonder why things are spelled "wrong".**

**Chapter One: Jack and Ianto (293 words)**

They had been driving for over an hour when Jack finally asked where they were going. Secretly, Ianto was surprised it had taken him that long. After all, he had simply taken Jack's keys and told him to get in the car.

So they'd driven off in Jack's car, which even Ianto had never driven, without a word of explanation. Some part of him suspected that this was Jack's way of apologising for something, but he didn't know what.

"Come on, Yan; tell me where we're headed." Ianto smiled to himself. He expected the question, but still wasn't ready to answer.

"You'll see soon enough," he replied. Sure enough as the darkness around them grew, he paid even closer attention to the signs. They were far from Cardiff now, out in the middle of nowhere. Jack could see the stars coming out. Stars in a night sky – not necessarily these, but any stars, on any planet – were always a comfort and a painless reminder. Proof of his history on foreign worlds.

"We're here," Ianto said. Jack blinked and stepped out of the car. They were in a large field, empty except for the two of them and the grass waving in a cool night breeze. He looked to Ianto.

"What are we doing here?" he asked.

"Look up." He did, and the stars were not only clearer than he could ever remember seeing them, but they seemed to go on forever. The time traveller turned to the Welshman, a question written on his face. "You said you couldn't see the stars," Ianto, who had been closely gauging Jack's reaction the whole time, explained. "I thought you'd appreciate seeing them again." Jack grinned and pulled him in for a kiss.

"You are amazing, Ianto."


	2. Rose and Nine

**Stargazing**

**Disclaimer: All of these characters are the property of their respective shows. The stars belong to all of us in this – and every other – universe.**

**A/N: This I imagine taking place relatively soon after Rose has started travelling with the Doctor, but once they've become friends.**

**Sorry it's so short.**

**Chapter Two: Rose and Nine (190 words)**

"What are we waiting for?" Rose asked. She was freezing her bloody arse off, but did the Doctor care? No. He'd just said that they _had_ to be on this bloody planet she couldn't remember the name of. Of course, he'd arrived ninety minutes early, most of which they'd spent outside the TARDIS, waiting for the whatever it was to show.

"Wait," the Doctor said to Rose as if she was being a particularly irksome child. Rose sighed. Then, suddenly, the Doctor pointed to a corner of the sky. "Look!"

A thick band of white streamed across the sky from the right. It was streaked with thin lines of blue and green. Another thick white band, this one streaked with red and orange, raced in to meet it from the left. They collided in the sky in a shower of brilliant colour.

Rose watched the sky in awe until the last images faded from her vision. "That was beautiful." The Doctor smiled. He'd taken her to this uninhabited planet to show her the wonders of the universe she'd re-opened his eyes to.

And beauty like this deserved to be noticed.


	3. Gwen and Rhys

**Stargazing**

**Disclaimer: All of these characters are the property of their respective shows. The stars belong to all of us in this – and every other – universe.**

**A/N: I hope you're enjoying these. I'm certain producing them quickly.**

**I don't know if anyone's noticed, but I updated the summary a little bit.**

**Chapter Three: Gwen and Rhys (211 words)**

Husband and wife were simply sitting in the park, delighting in each others' company and silently marvelling at the peace they had this night, so unlike many other these days. Gwen looked up to the starry sky above them. "They're beautiful, aren't they?" Rhys glanced up. All he could see were stars, no different than any other night. But even then, they were something different than how they had seemed even two years ago. With knowing what Torchwood was came the burden of knowing what Torchwood did. But maybe that wasn't so bad.

"Yeah," he said to fill the quiet that seemed too big when they were watching the sky. Gwen, however, didn't seem to be looking for a response. She was looking out into space, wondering at the possibility presented by everything she now knew was out there. It fascinated her to think that there were other planets out there with other forms of life on them, possibly even fascinated by the idea that there could be creatures out there like _her_. She suddenly felt like she was small and insignificant in the scheme of things.

"Isn't it lovely to know we're not alone in the whole entire universe?"

"Of course we're not alone," Rhys answered. "We have each other."


	4. Donna and Ten

**Stargazing**

**Disclaimer: All of these characters are the property of their respective shows. The stars belong to all of us in this – and every other – universe.**

**A/N: Finally, more actual Doctor Who characters! Mind you, I'm not sure I did a justice to Donna... but oh well.**

**Chapter Four: Donna and Ten (220 words)**

"Come on, spaceman, we need a break," Donna told the Doctor.

"What? No! Shopping is _not–_"

"Relax, I'm not dragging you shopping! It's more trouble than it's worth, though I _do_ wonder where you got everything in that wardrobe of yours sometimes." She shook her head. "I have something to show you. Come on, then!" She led them through the dark park, the Doctor noticing she knew her way already. Finally, they reached a rise and Donna stopped. She sat down on the grass, and the Doctor flopped down next to her.

"Now, I know you've been taking me all about space and time and amazing me with your knowledge, so I thought it was only fair that I share _my_ knowledge." And she was off, relaying all the information her granddad had taught her, pointing out all of the constellations she recognised. That was always how she knew, whenever they were on another planet, that this wasn't a dream. The stars were never the same.

The Doctor lay staring up at the stars, haring everything said, but thinking of everything he knew about the constellation she was naming. She was one of the first companions he'd had in a while that needed no prompting to appreciate the beauty of simply lying back and watching the wonders of the universe.


	5. Ten and the TARDIS

**Stargazing**

**Disclaimer: All of these characters are the property of their respective shows. The stars belong to all of us in this – and every other – universe.**

**A/N: Ahah! This one is fun, the TARDIS trying to cheer up a lonely Doctor. Or inspire him again, anyway. The planet Moonshine I invented a while ago as a joke, only it's because useful since then.**

**Chapter Five: Ten and the TARDIS (186 words)**

The Doctor went over to the door of his TARDIS and yanked it open.

They were in the middle of space. He swung round and addressed his ship. "We're in the middle of space."

_Yes,_ she answered through their telepathic link. He sighed.

"Okay, _why_ are we in space?"

_Look to the stars,_ she answered. He frowned, but turned around and opened the door again. Directly in front of him was the Kalltega system, stretching out in all its usual beauty. At a far two o'clock was the friendly sun that nurtured planets such as Moonshine and Argbrah. They were only a few million light years away. At about eight o'clock he could see Raxacoricofallapatorius itself. Its sun was just out of his line of vision.

"What am I looking for?"

_What do you see?_

"Nothing."

_Don't be pessimistic. What do you see?_ Just what was his ship getting at? All he saw were stars and planets. This far out, they all looked peaceful, like wars never ravaged their resources. _Exactly._

"Is that what I'm looking for? _Peace_?"

_Proof that all your work isn't for nothing._


	6. Tosh and Owen

**Stargazing**

**Disclaimer: All of these characters are the property of their respective shows. The stars belong to all of us in this – and every other – universe.**

**A/N: Arg! I struggled over this dynamic for ages in my head. Wasn't gonna write it till I'd written some more of these and I knew a bit better where I was going, but this one is still odd.**

**Chapter Six: Tosh and Owen (183 words)**

"Owen!" she called. He stopped and swung around to find Tosh running towards him.

"What?" he snapped unintentionally. He was starving and exhausted, not in the moot for getting completely wasted. Tosh recoiled slightly from the outburst.

"I – I wanted to show you something," she mumbled. He glanced at her arms, but the only thing she was carrying was her computer.

"What?" he asked, his tone softening a little. She led him out of the tourist office, then stopped, looking skyward. He looked up. He saw bits of buildings and the starry night sky. "What are we supposed to be looking at?"

"The sky, Owen," Tosh said as if it was the most obvious thing in the world, never once taking her eyes away from the sight. "Tonight's unusually beautiful and clear." She always loved the rare nights like this, when you could really imagine all the other worlds out there that they caught a small taste of.

Owen looked up again. There was a sort of beauty to it, he decided – if it didn't remind him so much of the bloody countryside.


	7. Eleven

**Stargazing**

**Disclaimer: All of these characters are the property of their respective shows. The stars belong to all of us in this – and every other – universe.**

**A/N: My first bit of fiction with Eleven. I'm not sure whether it paints him in a positive light or a negative one. Your thoughts (on this, him, the New Year's special) are welcome.**

**Chapter Seven: Eleven (186 words)**

He glanced to the sky. It exploded in a beautiful array of colour, at first an indistinguishable ball of bright light that then separated into a million individual explosions. Each one had its own colour, so many that even with all the words of all of his previous regenerations, they could not all be named. Each of the million explosions caused a chain reaction of a hundred more explosions, and each of those, a hundred more. A hundred million billion beautiful explosions of light, colour, and sound flashed across the universe before his eyes, and he couldn't stand it. It was too brilliant, too beautiful, too perfect, and it hurt him. It reflected everything he'd left behind in this latest regeneration, a massive explosion of all the beautiful and peaceful things in the universe.

He took half a glance at this wonderful sky and practically _growled_ at the peripheral image of the beautiful death of peace. He tore his eyes from the sight that broke his hearts and bounded back towards the TARDIS, an overly-enthusiastic, artificial spring in his step, in hope of proper _adventures_.


End file.
